Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (Nov 2020)

Occupational Health and Safety Problems, Health Literacy, Mental Health and Quality of life among Public Work Division Workers in the Northeast of Thailand - A Cross-sectional Study

  • Parichat Wongwarissara,
  • Natnapa Padchasuwan,
  • Wongsa Laohasiriwong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2020/45850.14216
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 11
pp. LC12 – LC16

Abstract

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Introduction: Public Work Division is a local government organisation in Thailand. The workers of the Public Work Division are vulnerable to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) problems. Those who could cope with various hazards should be able to maintain their good Quality of Life (QOL). Aim: To determine the OHS problems, level of Health Literacy (HL), mental health status, QOL and its association among Public Work Division workers of Local Government Organisations in the Northeast of Thailand. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 823 participants recruited by using multistage random sampling from Public Work Division of Local Administration Organisations in eight provinces of the Northeast of Thailand. A self-administered structured questionnaire was administered to assess OHS problems, HL, mental health and QOL. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between mental health, HL, OHS problems and QOL when controlling other covariates. Results: More than half of the workers were male (71.20%) with the mean age of 39.38 years (±9.64). Almost one-third of the workers had high level of ergonomic OHS (32.20%), 39.49% had high level of depression and 60.51% had interactive level of HL. Only 32.32% had good QOL. The multivariable analysis indicated factors that were significantly associated with good QOL of participants. These factors were critical level of HL on self-management skills (adj. OR=5.57; 95% CI: 3.46-8.94), critical level of HL on media literacy skills (adj. OR=3.29; 95% CI: 1.92- 5.63), moderate depression (adj. OR=2.56; 95% CI: 1.68-3.91), mild depression (adj. OR=5.05; 95% CI: 3.23-7.78) and low-tomoderate ergonomic problems (adj. OR=1.42; 95% CI: 1.01- 2.09) when controlling the effect of other covariates. Conclusion: Less than one-third of public work division workers had good QOL. HL, depression, OHS problems had influence on QOL.

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